kentcallison [dot] com

For many of us, email is still the primary means of communication in our professional lives.  The advent of social networking sites, text messages and other electronic missives may have cut down on the volume of email you receive, but there are still instances when email is the most appropriate medium.

That doesn't mean, however, you can't take the lessons learned from social networking sites like Twitter and apply them to your email.  If you are an avid user of SMS or Twitter, you've learned how to craft a clear, concise and compelling message in 140 characters or less.  Many of your emails could afford a character diet as well.  Think of how often you are disturbed by long unwieldy emails that either belabor a point, or worse, never seem to make a point at all.  Think of how grateful your email recipients will be if they can digest your emails in 140 little characters.

Think it can't be done?  Think again.  

The first step is to use the Subject line for what it was meant for - the subject.  Often, this will be the only part of the email message you will need.  For example, let's say you need to follow up with a client regarding an upcoming project.  In the past, you may have used the subject line to simply enter the words "upcoming project."  Instead, try to be more specific like "we need to meet in the next week to discuss the details of the Pegasus Project."

In the subject line alone you can communicate 90% of your message.  Use the body of the email for an action item like "Can you meet at my office at 2pm this Wednesday?"  

Try giving your emails the Twitter treatment.  If you really want to slim down your messages, try writing your email messages on the Twitter website or your favorite Twitter client, then copy and paste the text into your email client.  Your messages will become more compelling as you trim away the excess characters.  You'll spend less time writing emails and your readers will spend less time reading them.  That's good news for both of you.